Linda Gromko, MD is a family physician whose husband, Steve Williams, received five Home Hemodialysis treatments per week beginning in 1/08. He switched to Home Peritoneal Dialysis in 1/11. Sadly, Steve died in April 2011 - one week after a leg amputation. Dr. Gromko's blog explores issues of treating Renal Failure at home, making the treatments more user-friendly, and supporting the all-important caregiver in the family on Home Dialysis.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Steve Meets the "Johnny Jump-Up"

If you've been the parent or grandparent of a six-month-old baby, you know what a "Johnny Jump-Up" is. It's a cloth harness that supports your baby while you suspend him by a spring mechanism fastened to a door jamb. And your baby bounces enthusiastically up and down, pushing off the floor again and again. The baby's happy, and you can get enough time to pay your bills, or complete an assignment. Plus, it's a great little quadriceps and balance exercise for a baby!

So how does this relate to Steve, who's been bedridden for weeks after his critical heart surgery -- and most recently, septic with an acute cholecystitis (gall bladder infection)?

If you've been bedridden for a while, you have to relearn how to support your trunk. You have to learn how to be vertical again!

In the ingenious world of Physical Therapy, there's a contraption that reminds me of that Johnny Jump-Up. With three Physical Therapists working together, Steve was secured into a Kermit-the-Frog-green sling, They carefully hoisted him to a vertical position. With some practice, Steve could transition to a vertical posture -- and find his feet.

Now, he's not a toddler just yet, but this is an enormous step in the right direction!

With more muscle development, time, and a lot more practice, we'll see him emerge yet -- refurbished heart and all. We continue to be amazed at adaptive technologies that contribute to his recovery.